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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-05838

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government over which period in 2019 the ticket sales data in ScotRail's consultation on ticket office closures relates to.

Abellio ScotRail advise they carried out analysis from ticket issue data for each of the current ScotRail ticket offices covering the seven-week period from 30 October to 17 December 2016 & 2019, regarded in the industry as the busiest period in the year.

It is important to note the data used for the review was from 2019 and represents a period not impacted by the Covid pandemic and the associated fall in customer numbers.

Question reference: S6W-05828

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it or Transport Scotland was notified that Abellio ScotRail was planning to consult on changes to ticket office opening hours at a number of its stations.

Question reference: S6W-05489

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 1 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, between 1 January and 30 June 2021, what proportion of reports of domestic abuse incidents perpetrated by (a) men against women and (b) women against men were prosecuted.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) uses an operational database. The database is designed for the management of cases rather than for statistical purposes.

COPFS can provide data in relation to charges reported and prosecuted based on the sex of the accused (perpetrator). COPFS cannot provide data in relation to the sex of the alleged victim.

The information is provided in the following table:

Total Domestic Abuse charges reported to COPFS
1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021

Total charges reported	16,395

Charges reported - Male accused	14,193
of which prosecuted	13,296	93.7%

Charges reported - Female accused	2,202
of which prosecuted	1,800	81.7%

Charges prosecuted includes charges where the initial decision is to prosecute in court at either solemn level (i.e. before a jury) or summary level (i.e. without a jury). The figures also include charges which were not prosecuted in court, but where other charges for the same accused within the same case were prosecuted. In some cases, the charges which were prosecuted will have included details from the charges against the same accused which were not prosecuted.

COPFS uses a live operational database and the information contained within it is structured accordingly. Information provided may therefore be subject to change as our systems are updated for operational reasons.

Question reference: S6W-05490

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of domestic abuse were (a) reported and (b) prosecuted between 1 January and 30 June 2021.

The latest published Official Statistics on the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland are for the year to 31 March 2021. In the period from 1 January to 31 March 2021, the Police recorded 14,782 incidents of domestic abuse.

Figures showing police recorded domestic abuse incidents are also published in the monthly data reports on how the pandemic has affected the Justice system in Scotland. In the period from 1 April to 30 June 2021 the police recorded 15,749 incidents of domestic abuse. This data is based on management information provided each month by Police Scotland, based on their administrative data available at that time and will in due course be incorporated into the 2021-22 Official Statistics.

In the period 1 January to 30 June 2021, 16,395 domestic abuse charges were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). These are reported charges with a domestic abuse identifier. During the same period, 15,096 domestic abuse charges were prosecuted.

It should be noted that information on police recorded incidents of domestic abuse and cases prosecuted by COPFS are not strictly comparable as there is no direct relationship between the number of incidents (and the crimes they involve) recorded by the police and the number of follow-up actions taken by other agencies within the criminal justice system. For example, some incidents of domestic abuse do not involve any crimes or offences being recorded, whereas others may involve multiple crimes which lead to more than one prosecution. There are other comparability issues in that incidents recorded by the police may not be processed by COPFS or the courts in the same period they were recorded.

Question reference: S6O-00672

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers its financial exposure to be in relation to its arrangements with GFG Alliance and its related companies.

Question reference: S6W-05491

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of domestic abuse by (a) men against women and (b) women against men were reported to Police Scotland between 1 January and 30 June 2021.

The latest published Official Statistics on the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the Police in Scotland are for the year to 31 March 2021. In the period from 1 January to 31 March 2021, where the victim’s gender was recorded, 80% (9,034) of domestic abuse incidents involved a female victim and a male accused; 17% (1,867) of domestic abuse incidents involved a male victim and a female accused.

Figures showing police recorded domestic abuse incidents are also published in the monthly data reports on how the pandemic has affected the Justice system in Scotland. In the period from 1 April to 30 June 2021 the police recorded 15,749 incidents of domestic abuse. This data is based on management information provided each month by Police Scotland, however we do not at this stage hold any further details on those involved. As standard practice, a gender breakdown will be available when the 2021-22 annual Official Statistics are published later this year.

Question reference: S6W-04946

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 17 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether returning the operation of the Caledonian Sleeper franchise to the terms of the original franchise agreement after 31 March 2022, once the current Emergency Measures Agreement expires, could lead to a default on payment or termination of the contract.

The current Emergency Measures Agreement has been extended until the 28 February 2022. A prior information notice (a technical measure that stems from the relevant procurement regulation) was issued in February 2021 to preserve the Scottish Government’s ability to award a temporary measures agreement from March 2022 should it be necessary at that stage to continue emergency measures type support.

In advance of the expiry of the current Emergency Measures Agreement, the Scottish Government will consider the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the context of the Sleeper franchise and review the need for any temporary measures agreement.

Question reference: S6W-04944

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 17 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what provision it has made for the Operator of Last Resort to run the Caledonian Sleeper franchise should the current operator no longer be able to continue to do so.

Question reference: S6W-04939

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 17 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the costs of combining the Caledonian Sleeper franchise with the ScotRail franchise so that they are managed together by the Operator of Last Resort.

Question reference: S6W-04943

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 17 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates serving a Termination Notice to Serco Caledonian Sleepers Ltd should the company choose to exercise the rebasing option in the franchise agreement.